Fibromyalgia Support Group
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OK, 3 hours of sleep, an internet glitch, and the temperature control wars... plus anxieties... I give up. Suffice to say I am not doing well, and neither is our wi-fi, apparently. Or my mom, or or or or... ugh.
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Today in 1698, Russia's tsar Peter the Great managed to impose a tax beyond ridiculous: He taxed beards. This was part of his campaign to Westernize Russia. It was, like all such, utterly doomed to failure. Russia doesn't Westernize. Never has, never will. Most of the country technically lies in Asia, has a wildly varied number of subcultures, and until old Petey the Great, didn't really look "West" to Europe. It looked to the Orient, AKA Greece-Turkey-Middle East, due in part to the religious "thing". Russia was Orthodox Catholic, rather than Roman Catholic. (Byzantine Catholic, if you prefer. Every nation has its own Orthodox church, etc., so there's Russian Orthodox and what-have-you.)
Anyway, Peter spent a lot of time touring Western Europe, admiring the success of the Brits and the Dutch, and came home to declare he was going to modernize Russia. He started by personally shaving, at a big welcome-home ball, the beards clean off several of his guests. Himself. Since the Orthodox faith at that time held beardlessness was blasphemous (don't ask me why, I don't know), Petey figured out he could kill two birds with one stone --- or cut two beards with one razor, if you prefer. He taxed beards. Pay the tax, get a token saying you could have a beard. Don't pay it, and you'd better shave. What with one thing and another...
Yep. Beards remained. It's much like the cigarette tax that way. Didn't really stop smoking, just made it a bit more expensive.
As "modern" as Peter the Great tried to be, he failed as badly as everyone else at turning Russia into a model of *Western* European success, although he certainly kicked Russia far ahead. Part of this was luck and coincidence --- power shifts were in his favor, etc., across central and eastern Europe --- but part of it was also that he realized a nation without a navy was just asking to lose out to the Brits and Dutch.
INterestingly enough, the US had no navy for a while. The revenue service (prelude to the Coast Guard), yes. A navy for defense/offense, no. Then American merchants were repeatedly hit by pirates based along the then-Barbary Coast --- basically, Africa's Mediterranean and northern Atlantic coasts, bordering the lands of the Berber and similar tribes. The pirates weren't all themselves Berbers, btw, they just hid out there. Like the "Greek pirates" of the Roman era, they were of many nations, and just named for where they were based. Many "Barbary pirates" were Turkish.
At which point, the need for a good navy was getting pretty obvious, as a militia-style navy wasn't going to work out. The US Navy came back into being, tho' it considers its birthday to be October 13, 1775, in case anyone feels like celebrating in a week or so.
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Don't ask me where my brain is. Probably lost along witht he original check-in when the power flickered or whatever it was. I really hate anxiety-laden days/nights that mean sleep is "naps". ut, don't we all hate that?
Healing and health to everyone:-)
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88FIn 1969 we decided to get married without a big wedding. Most of our friends and family liked large over the top for the time kind of weddings and I did not. First, I didn't see why spending so much money for one day when we have the rest of our lives to live. I have never regretted not having a big formal wedding. Another issue is not liking all the attention. Also, we have gone to big...
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We're all troubled.WSo, to remind ourselves we're not at rock bottom (this is a reverse optimism thing I learned as a kid):We are not living on the island of Krakatoa when the volcano goes boom!Yeah, okay, that sucks.***Toay in 1942, Pierre Laval announced that the way to free France was for Germany to win WW2. Pierre did not win a lot of friends. When the war ended, quite quickly he was tried...
Sorry about the poor sleep. That's never fun.
I have a new set of responsibilities starting up today--it's going to take 15 hours a week, and none of my other responsibilities are going anywhere. I have no idea how I'm going to make any of this work, and it's not something I can really negotiate--hence my boss and her demand that I pull mandatory overtime. I think that I'm going to have to loosen the standards to which I hold myself, because other than that I'm going to feel overwhelmed and crazy.
My period hasn't come yet, though I know it's lurking. I feel terrible. Sometimes I think it waits for a time when it can do maximum damage, you know? And my new responsibilities are very customer service based, so I have to be on my best behavior. Phooey. I just wanna stay home, though work is air conditioned, and that's a good thing. I had to cancel gaming last night because the migraine wouldn't let up. So no fun for kitten, but I must drag into work. Ah, the joys of being and adult, with all the have-to-do-ness of it all.
Wish you all a great day. Wish me luck staying pleasant. :)
Sorry no sleep, Leo. And Mom and and. Hope you can rest today.
ZK, sorry for the extra work. I feel so bad for you. I hope it doesn’t last long.
I’m sitting at the airport in Minneapolis. Should hit Milwaukee by 8:30am. My daughter is picking me up. Will be so nice to get home.
My nodule tested as benign. A calcification. Happy on that.
No more chest pain so far. Hope the new meds work.
See ya later.
Zombie-I hope you're paid hourly instead of salary so at least you get extra pay for the overtime. Mandatory overtime should be illegal imo. And the neverending pms is horrible, I've been getting that every time and I feel for you
Ida-im glad to hear everything is ok with your heart and your lung nodule is benign. I hope your new meds help so you don't have to go through this stress again
I'm beyond exhausted and thanks to school being in session my commute is about 20 minutes longer. And my knuckles are throbbing because I ended up getting in with the rheumatologist yesterday during lunch break. She said it could be a few things and ordered bloodwork and xrays, but I couldn't get them yesterday because I had to go back to work, so I have to go tomorrow. At least I have symptoms that are visible this time. I also mentioned the lighter skin on my shoulder and she said it's vitiligo. So another thing. I'm not even 30 yet. I can live with the vitiligo as long as it doesn't spread and I'm really hoping it doesn't, some people end up with it all over their body, and I have enough body image problems. I really hope today is slow, I'm feeling really anxious
I'm sorry to hear that you have been going through such a rough stretch. Hopefully you'll get some answers and relief soon!
ZK,
I do hate mandatory too. Like Leo pointed out, it use to mean a lot of extra time with no extra pay. Now that I'm a govt worker, at least I get paid for the time. I hope it goes smoothly for you.
ida,
I should have come to the airport and had bfast with you. It's only about 2.5 hours away! :-)
I have a lot of stuff going on here also. My operated on? parts from July are getting worse and worse. I go and see the urologist again on Friday morn. I'm sure they'll have to do some other kind of surgery surgery to fix the first surgery. Reading up on the repair for this thing makes it look like there is a chance of repeated surgeries with a little more damage caused by each one. We'll see how it goes. Add that to my tooth deal next week and I have a lot to look forward to! YES! On a brighter note...ummm Football starts on Thursday...that should fix pretty much all of us!
Have a wild and wacky Wednesday!
Kel
ZK sorry that work is piling more on you. It is hard enough to work full time but overtime is like a huge punishment for our bodies. Praying for you.
Ida so glad that the nodule is showing as benign. I hope that you can rest and get your anxiety down once you are home.
Miki I really hope the rheumy can figure out what is going on with you. My hands get so bad at times I can barely use them. I am praying for a quiet day at work for you today.
Kel I hope the surgeons can fix whatever isn't right. It sounds like you are not much better off than you were to begin with. Praying things calm down.
Angela yes you need to set limits with your PT. It is good to push but not to push until you are in extreme pain. Praying your day is gentle on you.
I have a lot of things to put away today so my housekeeper can come in tomorrow. It is going to be in the 90's today and almost that hot tomorrow. I will be so glad to see Autumn come. I already have swelling and pain in my joints all over my body and the heat will make it worse. I am staying inside in air conditioning.
Waves at wonder, blue, twins, susan, and all who follow.
Leo, I'm sorry that it's all crashing down on you today. No sleep, temp wars, wifi intolerances, and your mom. It's so dang hard. I'm walking right beside you right now.
Zombie, I'm so sorry work is making OT manditory. That's code for someone screwed up majorly or it's time to bail ship. If only, right? I've been there. It sucks like a box of rocks.
Hope flo finally comes and is just done and gone sooner than later.
Ida!!! Yah for beneignness....(yes I just made that up). Yah for busting out of that place! Yah for probably being at home right now. I'm so happy you're back there now.
Now do that cool rest thing you do and just kick back and relax again.
Kel, oh no! I'm so sorry that what was routine must be done again and I hope and pray this time it will be the last time. How does that happen?
And I think my hubster right now is thinking like you. Football will heal him. Well, I'm caving in that area. Anything that will get that man to sit still and let his body not grow more weird lumps, is my goal right now.
I pray your docs have the midas touch and can remedy a fix for you.
Morning Aspie!
Angela, I agree, when OT pushes you to the point of regression not progress, then they need to tweak their routines for you. And I hope the rain lets up soon.
Autumn, I couldn't agree more with you on wishing for fall to come. It's been a brutal summer!! Not with storms and such, but the heat has been a big ugly dirty word. Today we "finally" hit the low 70's. I flew open every window I could reach. (the one above the kitchen sink is hard for a short girl like me to reach.
So yesterday was CT scan day. And we went in thinking it was just going to be what the doc ordered and the radiologist trumped my hubster and upgraded his scan to one with contrast because it's so close to his lymph nodes.
I'm trying hard to focus on the good stuff right now. And I'm burying my nose in lesson plans for the boys school stuff and organizing my planner today. I may pause to bake the kiddos some cookies. Chocolate therapy could do this house some good I think.
Otherwise it's a quite day in the neighborhood. Quiet is good. I also need to head out to the pond to find some pond plants...(I hope our neighbors don't have security cams, because this is not going to be graceful at all!!) Beans is studying photosynthesis and welp, we need some pond plants. Good news, is they are abundant here. And I can put them right back after we're done 'studying it'.
I'm also ordering pine cars to start their shop class. Just might have to have derby races in the driveway!
Hugs to all!
I'm sorry you're not sleeping well. And you're having wi-fi issues and mom problems and more. I hope things get sorted out soon so you can sleep again.
I haven't been sleeping well myself... and then I'm dozing off in the middle of the day during my studies.
Yesterday I studied and studied, snuck a nap in, studied some more, cooked dinner (sweet and sour pork with fresh pineapple and sweet peppers), fed the cats, scooped litter, and then resumed studying.
My husband came home and complained that I didn't cook enough food and he was still hungry. So I told him then he should cook from time to time and solve that problem. He decided to start a fight with me. I told him I don't have time for your drama, I have to cram another chapter before the end of the night. He said sorry.
I have 2 lectures to watch today and notes to take. My misaligned rib is killing me. And I think a must have twisted my knee a few days ago because it's been shooting pain. It's a good thing I don't have to be anywhere.... but my husband is trying to talk me into running errands for him.
Ida, I hope you're back home now. So excited for you!
Kel, oh no!! I thought the surgery was supposed to help you, not make things worse?? Boy, I hope these doctors know what they're doing. Have you considered getting a second opinion? Sending hugs your way.
Waves back at Autumn.
Back in a sec.
Miki, I hope the rheumy gets to the bottom of it! Glad you had something to show them this time.
Angela, I hope PT doesn't push you too hard this time.
Wonder, sending lots of prayers and chocolate your way!
This awful hot/humid weather is suppose to break after today. YAY It has just been gross since Saturday. Also, had lots of rain and storms too Sat. and Mon and that did not help the heat and humidity lower at all. Sat was like a sauna out, even at night. I dont know how those of you that live in the south do it. Michigan gets hot and humid enough for me in the summer.
So, I have already used my spoons up and then some. Just going to take it mostly easy tonight .
Ida - glad you are home (by now) and the tests turned out good.
Blue - when I was in college I would often fall asleep right on top of my books. I was a busy bee back then between classes and work and when I got to actually sit down and study/read, I would fall asleep. : (
Sorry cant reply to everyone. I need to attend to my freaking back pain. Fatigue is high.
Leo, I hope you are able to get some sleep today. Lots of hugs your way for you and your mom. Hope that your mom feel better too. Ida, I am so happy that you are feeling better. Hugs and lots of love to everyone. I started water aerobics therapy. It feels so good being in the water. I love it. I wish I could live in the water. It was so good for my Fibro and joints. You guys should try it if you have not already. Wishing you all a great evening and peaceful sleep tonight.
Hugs, Pam
Pam, glad the water felt good. Was it aqua therapy? Or did you go to a pool? I try to swim when I can, sometimes it feels great, other times not, depends on my pain. Hugs